Ruling and opposition parties say "Regret over Busan Expo bid failure"..."Moon administration gave up" vs "Limitations of US-Japan focused diplomacy"

People Power Party "Sweat and Effort Will Not Be in Vain"
Democratic Party "Continued Support for Gadeokdo New Airport, etc."

Regarding the failure to secure the 2030 Busan World Expo, both ruling and opposition parties expressed their regrets and comforted the public. In the political sphere, there were also attempts to assign responsibility for the failure to both current and former governments.

Kim Ki-hyun, leader of the People Power Party, said on social media on the 29th, "It is truly unfortunate," adding, "Although the dream of the 2030 Busan Expo has come to a halt, South Korea's steps toward the world will continue." Park Jeong-ha, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, also comforted the citizens of Busan, the public, and related parties in a written statement immediately after the failure, saying, "The long journey to secure the 2030 Busan Expo has ended, but our united efforts to do our best until the end were enough to move the whole world," and "The sweat and efforts made by the government, companies, and citizens in unison will never be in vain."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the same day, "Many people worked hard on the ground and did their best, but it is truly regrettable that the bid for the 2030 Expo in Busan failed," adding, "Although the Expo bid failed, the remaining issues such as the Gadeokdo New Airport and the expansion of the metropolitan transportation network will be continuously pursued without interruption, and the Democratic Party will do its best to ensure this."

On the afternoon of the 28th (local time), the voting results for the selection of the host city for the 2030 World Expo were displayed on the press center monitor at the 173rd General Assembly of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE) held at the Palais des Congr?s on the outskirts of Paris, France. In the first round of voting, Saudi Arabia received 119 votes, Korea 29 votes, and Rome 17 votes, resulting in Korea's failure to secure the Expo hosting rights. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Criticism regarding the responsibility for the failure to secure the bid was also raised.

Seo Byung-soo, a member of the People Power Party and chairman of the National Assembly's Special Committee to Support the 2030 Busan World Expo Bid, pointed out on social media that the previous Moon Jae-in administration did not make active efforts to secure the bid. Seo stated, "From passing the Ministry of Economy and Finance's feasibility review for international events in April 2018 to the Cabinet's approval of the national project in May 2019 took one year, and it took three years until the Prime Minister's bid committee was established in July 2022, totaling four years during which the Moon Jae-in government was inactive. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia conducted a global bid campaign, and this should serve as a 'lesson to learn from the opposite side.'"

Park Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said after the Supreme Council meeting, "Saudi Arabia received 119 votes, while Busan got 29 votes, which is a shocking result. There has never been such a large vote gap in our country's diplomatic history. We need to seriously reflect on this outcome."

On the other hand, Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the People Power Party who is currently pushing for the establishment of a new party, mentioned problems with the current government's bid strategy. Lee said on social media, "Although the current diplomatic trend focusing on relations with the United States and Japan may not be wrong from a security perspective, there were inherent limitations that could be disadvantageous in securing international events under the one country, one vote system."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.